Adverse Effects
Most clinical trials have claimed no severe side effects with the valerian treatment. However, there are a few side effects for ethanolic valerian extracts, namely gastrointestinal discomfort, headache, drowsiness, irritability, diarrhea, nausea and sweating. For aqueous extracts, nausea and dizziness were the only reported side effects.
It was previously speculated that valepotriates were cytotoxic; however, later studies showed that when orally administered, these compounds were degraded into non-toxic products in the stomach and therefore poses minimal risks to consumers.
Caution
High doses of valerian extracts should be avoided since a dose-dependent increase in side effects has been found in doses greater than 900 mg.
Drug Interactions
Commercially available valerian products may be found in combination with other herbal medicines such as hops, St. John's wort, lemon balm and passion flower. In fact, studies have shown that the effectiveness of these products appears to be greater than valerian alone. Furthermore, negligible adverse effects have been reported regarding consumption of these combined herbal medicines.
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